swbkrun's group - FULL (Page 13)

RE: Swimming distance - I did the 0-1650 program and it pretty much lives up to it's name.  I had a little more base, so I started at week 3ish and went from there.

http://ruthkazez.com/ZeroTo1mile.html

Hey guys.. Im back.

I stayed in Austin until wednesday so Im only just getting back in the groove.

what a crazy weekend... I got there friday with the team and we decided to do a short 10 mintue out and back to get our legs stretched after the 4 hour flight. I was feeling well and decided to join them. I took it easy and ran with a friend who was having some hamstring issues. I got back to the rest spot and had some water... OH Yeah.. then I passed out!!! All I heard was.. IS she sleeping? I had to laugh. Now its not the first time so I wasnt worried. I dusted myself off and went back to the hotel. Thats where someone told me it had been 107 degrees F.

Saturday was packed. We biked to this amazing natural spring swimming pool about 1 1/2 miles away from the hotel called barton springs. It was great. The team was able to get "open water" experience. The water was cold but I loved it.

We biked back and went to packet pick up. WHAT A DISASTER. They had the expo and the packet pickup in the ballroom with the packet pick up in the back of the room. The lines snaked in all directions and didnt move. Also there was ONE voleenter to give out the packets it seemed. The place was so congested. Little did we know that this was the start of more disoganization to come.

That evening was pasta party for TNT which is always emotional. Then off to bed for a good night sleep. Oh but wait.. WAVE STARTS. They changed as of friday afternoon but only those of us with balckberry's knew. Well okay we were nice and let everyone in on the big secret.

OH but wait..Saturday night there were rumors that the wave starts changed again. Making my wave 20 minutes earlier. Phew.. I was sooo happy but how do we confirm. There was a large board outside the expo that night with the new wave start times... So I went from 7:18am a week before to 7:45am on friday to 7:21am on saturday night. (of course there was no explanation from the race coordinator). So I went to bed happy that I would start the course much earlier with the hope that I wouldnt get stuck with the heat on the run course.

Sunday morning comes and yet again there are rumors that the wave starts are changed... but with no one to ask and no announcements.. what do you do. So standing on the grass by Town Lake cap, goggles, and wetsuit in hand we waited. ALL 2500 competitors wondering when we were going to go off. Times changed multiple times as we stood on the shore. The only thing I could do was stay near the light green capped people and hope I get in at the right time. Oh did I tell you that when we showed up on sunday morning, the swim course had changed from a mushroom shape the previous night to a rectangle.

The swim course was rough because it was hard to site. The 4 loops of the (what I thought would be flat) hilly bike course was even rougher and the 2 loop run course (without mile markers... .because they were left in transistion and noone placed them out) was even rougher because my feet were tingling for the first 5k.

All in all, Im happy its over. Looking back now I just laugh at the absurdity in it all.

I hope I gave you a laugh too!!

 Jess

 Yeah the heat on the run course was brutal. They didnt have enough voleenters handing out water. But I was out on the course by 1030/11a. I felt bad for everyone else.

Sounds like one heck of a race.  Glad you are home safe and sound. 

Steve,

 Since I know how much you love cyclist friendly cops, this should be right up your ally.  Maybe you should move to Maryland.  Watch out, next time you'll get ticketed for running too fast as well.  Honestly............................

 http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6678585&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.2.1

BIKE ENVY BIG TIME

I hope the group is doing well. Knock on wood, my injuries seem to be at bay. I ran 9.5 miles last weekend pain free. That was my longest run to date. This sunday im looking at 10.5ish miles before I leave on wednesday for alaska and the Half marathon (first time) on the 22nd. I hope that my friend and I will find time to run a bit while we are travelling before the race. I had a lactate threshold test (without the V02 because they didnt have the equipment). I found it exteremyl helpful for my training but most importantly to keep myself injury free. I realized that I was spending alot of time in t3 on my runs. I learned I should keep myself in t2 to prevent injury and increase emdurance. I highly recommend the testing if you rwilling to spend the money.

Thanks again for the well wishes before my race on memorial day. Its good to be back and training for my other races. I am kind of upset that I didnt sign up for other olympic this season because of the worry aboutmy knees. But I just got into the Nike NYC half marathon so I have something to look foward too.

Till next time..  have a great week.

I was thinking on my run this morning about my training process.  I'm about 6 weeks out from my first tri and up to now I've really just been working on fitness and not following any sort of structured training plan.  I'm  to the point where I can easily do all of the distances for the race, but am worried that the lack of structure to my training might leave me unprepared come race day.  I've yet to do a brick and my bike is out of commission until the part comes in (supposed to be yesterday, not real confident in the new bike shop - that's another story). 

My training also seems to drift in focus from one discipline to another.  I swam more than 12k yards in April, then only 4400 in May - but with greater run volume.  I guess the reason I never really got into a plan was because they all started out with such low volume that it wasn't challenging, combined w/ a couple injuries that prevented running.

So here's where I'm looking for advice.  Would jumping into a plan 5 or 6 weeks from it's finish be beneficial, even if that means backing off volume?  Or, given that it's a sprint, should I just try to balance my disciplines a little better and keep doing what I'm doing?

My $0.02.  If I were you I would cut back some of the distances and start combining sports.  Example:  Instead of doing a 20 mile bike ride, make it a 12mile bike with a 5K run afterwards.  Then do one long day for each event during the week and fill in the other day with combos. That way your body gets use to doing multiple exercises in series. 

I too am unable to follow a training schedule do to my family obligations.  So I try to hit the totals of the plan for the week and not worry about sticking to the plan day by day.  That way the training plan gives me good ideas of what combinations to try and some distance build ups.  I would say it's okay to start in the middle of a plan, if that is where your fitness level is.